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CBS News: Is The Volt The Car Of The Future? [w/video]

cbsnews.com — The Volt is due in dealer showrooms by the end of next year, which is itself a show of optimism about GM's future. But there's a problem: sales of existing hybrids have been plummeting for months because the price of gasoline has dropped. If that consumer attitude holds, it could mean that GM will be bringing out the right car at the wrong time.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 15, 2009

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  • Trekhawk, on 04/15/2009, -1/+28"...the price of gasoline has dropped."

    Just wait. $3.50 gasoline is coming back.
  • GroundIsSound, on 04/15/2009, -1/+26still waiting for the Chevy Voltron
  • wannaBdug, on 04/15/2009, -3/+23Pretty sweet
  • trafficlight, on 04/15/2009, -0/+17Do a little research first, please.

    According to http://gm-volt.com/chevy-volt-reasons-for-use-and- ...

    "The map above shows the average retail price of electricity in the U.S. by state in 2003. It ranges from around 6 cents/KWH to 17 cents/KWH. The U.S. average for 2007 is 10.65 cents. To see the numbers for the current year click here. If we use the average, the cost to recharge the Volt will be $0.85, and the range for 2007 will be from 48 cents to $1.34 depending where you live. Clearly for 40 miles of driving at present gas and electric prices, there will be a very significant cost savings."
  • Shogi, on 04/15/2009, -14/+29No they aren't the future, Tesla Motors is.
  • Simplysped, on 04/15/2009, -2/+16$40,000.00 :(
  • AndrewWiggin, on 04/15/2009, -0/+11Such unnecessary pessimism. Electricity, while it still does cost money, is way cheaper than gas, and it has the potential to be even cheaper in the future if we can get solar, wind, and tidal power technology right.
  • inactive, on 04/15/2009, -0/+10no *****. probably break last summer's record.
  • jbella, on 04/15/2009, -0/+10It's estimated that without creating any new power plants and using our existing grid, we could convert about 70% of our cars to full electric and be okay. When you think about it... the typical car is in use for 1 or 2 hours a day, and parked 22 hours of the day. That gives us a lot of leeway on when and how fast the cars are charged.

    As for the cost... yes your electricity bill will go way up. But your gasoline bill will go to zero as well. Not only is electricity cheaper per unit energy, but electric cars are much more efficient than internal combustion engines. So on the balance you are going to spend much less on electricity.
  • Konrad9, on 04/15/2009, -0/+9Full-electric cars are the cars of the waaaaaaaaay future, the Volt is the car of the near future.
  • 4321234, on 04/15/2009, -1/+10An electric car with regenerative braking eliminates or reduces the need for most expensive parts and service. That's why the big auto manufacturers like the hybrid concept so much.
    If there was stations to swap out battery packs for freshly charged ones, only a fraction as many "battery stations", compared to gas stations, would be needed. A good portion of the typical drivers mileage is commuting, and the batteries could be charged at home.
    Then there's the parts rebuilders and specialty shops for automatic transmissions and mufflers that would go out of business in a few decades.
    There's a whole lotta people who'll be keeping a death grip on the status quo.
  • ethanator1088, on 04/15/2009, -1/+10I hope so. Something has got to change, and fast.
  • klaser, on 04/15/2009, -3/+11The Volt (EV-1) WAS the car of the future in the 90's before the CARB repealed legislation requiring 0-emission vehicles and GM destroyed every single EV-1 that was out there.
  • Konrad9, on 04/15/2009, -0/+740 miles with no gas. NO gas. Zero drops. Your job is 10 miles away? Sweet, don't even need to plug it in when you get there.
    Your job is 30 miles away? Get to work, plug it in, should be done way before you get out.

    Your job is more than 40 miles away? That's alright, you'll get better MPG than any car you have ever owned when the battery-charging gasoline motor kicks in.
  • Mightbiteyou, on 04/15/2009, -0/+6for some reason these "the volt is the car of the future" stories remind me of the "free beer tomorrow" signs you see in bars
  • Bobthecow81, on 04/15/2009, -2/+8Yeah quitting wasting time with a company that employs thousands of Americans and throw it all at a small California firm.
  • sanakirja, on 04/15/2009, -0/+5I have to agree with Shogi and disagree with you. Hybrids are ridiculous and are not the future. First of all, the Tesla Roadster was meant to pave the way for their future models. They are building up their infrastructure and innovating the technology needed. I am not one bit impressed with the Volt. Take a look at the TED talk:

    http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/shai_agassi_on_ ...

    Here are a few things I took from it: A hybrid is like a mermaid. When you want a fish, you get a woman. When you need a women, you get a fish. Also, about 200 years ago, Britain had an energy dilemma. They were using slaves as energy. This was immoral. So, they had an argument. Do they slowly reduce slavery (letting the children free), or do they stop it all together. The stopped it all together and one year later, the industrial revolution began. I say we stop ICE in cars and go 100% electric. Hybrids are a joke.
  • Buelldozer, on 04/15/2009, -0/+5Your car does not go 350 miles at 125MPH on a single tank of gas, I promise.

    The Volt should hit 125 once the limiter is removed, it WILL have the equivalent of MORE than 200HP and it will go 350 miles at a normal cruising speed.

    You're ignorant and talking (typing) out of your hat.

    BTW, my 8 year old Grand Prix GTP with 105K miles has 280HP goes 400 miles on a tank and will reach 135 or so. It also gets 20MPG in town and 35+ on the highway. Darn American junk!
  • pjd1024, on 04/15/2009, -3/+8This car used to be around in like 1999, 2000 but GM were too ***** retarded to even market the car - when it was previously called the EV-1.

    Watch the movie, WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR and youll realize it was GM who did the killing, ohhhh about 10 years ago when they thought it was a bad idea. Too bad for them Toyota realized how great of an idea hybrid and battery technology was. GM IS STUPID AND I HATE THEM.
  • Shiftgood, on 04/15/2009, -4/+9mmmmmmmmmmmmmnope.
  • NiftyG, on 04/15/2009, -0/+5I can't buy one today so, technically -- the answer is yes, it is a car of the future.
  • vicsvenge, on 04/15/2009, -4/+9You're insane my friend. Tesla Motors might be viable at some point, but right now they STILL haven't made the Tesla roadster how they intended to the in the first place and I doubt they've made any money on it. When you see Tesla taking orders for hundreds of cars people like yourself are impressed, but GM is taking orders of thousands of cars all of the time. GM has infrastructure on their side. Tesla might have some ideas, but they have no distribution network, which could cost billions of dollars to make one, and they only have a few parts suppliers. Contracts again worth billions of dollars. Tesla is good as a kit car maker, but as soon as you start throwing thousands of orders at a fledgling company like Tesla, they will explode and go bankrupt.
  • swordedge, on 04/15/2009, -0/+4Tesla Motors is the future after solving critical problems.

    1. Battery life.. there is a limited number of charges. The solution could be super caps as they do not degrade with longevity.

    2. Instantaneous power available. That is, how much power can you pull from the battery for short periods of time. The Lithium Ion batteries limit this. The new tech from MIT that was announces a couple weeks ago significantly improve this. Super caps can drain as fast as the motor requires it.

    3. Charging... The Tesla battery pack holds about 53 kWh of electricity. 53kW for one hour or 1W for 53,000 hours and every where in between. Assuming 100% efficiency, to charge this, you need to shove 53kWh of electricity in it over a period of time. If you want that time to be 6 minutes, then you are talking 530,000 Watts of juice PER charging station. If you have ten Charging stations, then you are talking about 5.3 Megawatts of juice. That is not going to be easy to provide for a lot of places.

    The fast charging is assuming that you CAN charge it fast. Supercaps can take it in seconds if you have big enough supplies. Lithium Ion.... I have no idea how fast you can charge it. Same for the MIT lithium Iron or what ever they use. I do think you can charge them faster then the Ion ones.

    There are other problems like infrastructure. If all electric is the future, it is way future.

  • inactive, on 04/15/2009, -1/+5Regardless, the government is foolish to invest in a failed business model.
  • CoD4, on 04/15/2009, -1/+5Because those teslas are so cheap
  • 3vno, on 04/15/2009, -0/+4i want one.
  • Wargala, on 04/15/2009, -1/+5Yep, because there's NO WAY that OPEC and other oil producing countries would allow gas to get to $4 a gallon again. Nope, no way at all.

    Wake up people, this is your only shot to get off of foreign oil, which is what you were all bitching about less then a year ago.
  • NiftyG, on 04/15/2009, -1/+5I had a muscle car in high school, too.

    But then I grew up.
  • tonmil, on 04/15/2009, -0/+4I'm tired of GM's reality distortion field and hearing about a car that won't be generally available until January 2011. Put it on the front page when it is 3 months from shipping.
  • pjd1024, on 04/15/2009, -0/+4who killed the electric car??? oh yeah, GM..
  • VAXcat, on 04/15/2009, -0/+4 I'm 56 and I still have a muscle car. Not all of us lose our dreams as we get older.
  • Suzilla, on 04/15/2009, -1/+5Hydrogen-based electrical generation is the way to go. Tesla's got the right idea for the power train, just the wrong marketing approach. They were looking to sell to the uber-rich turds on Wall Street who were playing fast and loose (or, should I say "lose") with everyone's money. They've got to re-tool their sales strategy and make the case that the core engineering concept -- hydrogen-based economics -- is the way of the future.
  • Zanarkand, on 04/16/2009, -0/+3Haha, another book burner...I swear the GOP thrives on a population of uneducated americans. Maybe a reason why whenever the GOP is in control our education system sees drastic cutbacks. The more uneducated people there are the more registered republicans they will have.
  • vicsvenge, on 04/15/2009, -0/+3However I will say this. GM should have bought Tesla a couple years ago when it still could have.
  • swordedge, on 04/15/2009, -0/+3I forgot to mention in number 3 that I was referring to charging stations that are like today's gas stations. Pull up to the pump, swipe your card, put pump in fill hole, and fill the tank.. or in this scenario, pull up to the plug, swipe your card for 4 bucks, plug your car in, charge for 6 minutes while you go to the john, get a drink, etc.
  • johnhummel, on 04/15/2009, -0/+3I can agree with that one. I'm really looking forward to the Volt. I have to drive 70 miles a day between work and home.

    If I could go 40 of that without using gas? I'm there. And by the time the price cuts down a bit and I'm ready to buy my new car in 2015 (when my daughter turns 16 and she inherits my old VW Beetle), hopefully it can get 80 miles before it needs the gas to kick in - which means I'll hardly have to pay for gas.
  • Mike17102, on 04/15/2009, -0/+3Plug it in where? Bring it to my cube and plug it in beside my PC? Run a really, really long extension cord out the office window and down 11 floors? Who pays for the electricity I use at work?

    Hell, I dont even have a place to plug it in at home.
  • AndrewWiggin, on 04/15/2009, -1/+4"I'm unwilling to do my part unless it is convenient in every way possible"

    Nice.
  • jho406, on 04/15/2009, -1/+4how much did they pay you to write this?
  • Buelldozer, on 04/15/2009, -0/+3Cheaper than a Tesla Roadster at 100K+. Cheaper even than their proposed S model at 50K.
  • knowitman, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2And Toyota and Honda didn't destroy their electric fleet as well? GM wasn't the only one.
  • andrewsavage, on 04/15/2009, -3/+5The Car of the future is the Honda Clarity. Hydrogen powered electric motor.
  • BitterTheClown, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2But not a Caps Lock key, it seems.
  • niblet21, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2looks awesome. I've been waiting (along with most people) for an electric car that looks good

    face it, gas prices always sky rocket in the summer and spring because oil companies want to make quick cash, and alot of it. electric cars are the only way to not be trapped by their scams.
  • Amazetbm, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2It's kind of too little too late. The all electric range is almost half that of a 3rd Generation EV1...one of GM's own designs. Sure it has a gasoline motor that kicks in to power the generator. But I'm disappointed that not only has their electric vehicle efforts stagnated but it appears to have taken a step backwards as well.
  • Buelldozer, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2I drove to Omaha over the Easter weekend, 700 miles each way and that was non-stop for each leg with the exception of one refueling stop.

    There are a LOT of drivers with the need to go 350 miles without stopping. Do you have any concept how LARGE the U.S. is???
  • Altotus, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2Hybrid sales have slumped, yes -- but ALL auto sales have taken a dive. It's probably not cheap gas but rather economic woes that are the problem. Moreover, whenver there's a run on an item (like there was on hybrids), the price inflates (there was plenty of that) and the sales impact future sales (most people keep a car at least 7 years).

    The Volt will do well if it is reliable and relatively inexpensive. Personally, I don't see how GM could pull it off in its current condition. The Volt will sell, but production will burn through the pittance they already have, and I wouldn't expect the Volt to sell so hot that they could hold out until it was profitable... No, GM will go bankrupt and the Volt will get bought by someone (Ford? Tata?) for a song.
  • jrm125, on 04/15/2009, -1/+3Sure, let's pick yet another storage medium that requires a fueling and transport infrastructure, along with actually requiring more energy to extract than it actually provides.

    Hydrogen isn't the answer here...more effective means of storing electricity in batteries is.
  • fooljoe, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2seriously. how much has GM spent advertising this car for the past ~5 years while in the meantime they keep pushing back the release date and saying they're not sure about the batteries?

    maybe if they used a little of the money to actually BUILD and SELL the damn car with existing battery technology (throwing a generator in an EV-1 with a few safety upgrades and a *smaller* battery should be really simple) they wouldn't be functionally bankrupt right now.
  • Talphin, on 04/15/2009, -0/+2What are you talking about? Just bury and hide an extension cord leading to your closest neighbors house. Or even better, if you live close to a gas station, tunnel your cord to their power source, and plug it in there. >=) then you could stick it to the gas companies in more than one way!
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